No Public Beta Testing: good bad for the game?

[Snorky]

I don't think it would be good, especially because it would spoil any story and I have never known a public test server to really make a difference.

[YukikoKurosawa]

I am curious how this community feels about the lack of a public beta test realm. On one hand, I see the advantages: it’s FUN for us all to figure out the story and jobs on our own. I had so much fun figuring out how things changed and hopefully improved for my favorite classes. It even got me to try Bard, which is my favorite job this expansion.

Post should've ended here as you just perfectly explained why there should be no PTR.

[Darthgummibear]

PTR's are historically pointless in the games that have them because they are used primarily as marketing tools, not for feedback they will act on. The actual working developer builds are always multiple steps beyond whatever you see on the test servers.

[Lihtleita]

im not paying 10 quid a month to test a game for a multi million dollar corporation

[Awarewolf]

Post should've ended here as you just perfectly explained why there should be no PTR.

Why do you say that? Because I’m enjoying Bard?

[YukikoKurosawa]

Why do you say that? Because I’m enjoying Bard?

I mean because you answered your own question as to why PTR is a bad thing as it ends up spoiling the game for you months in advance rather than letting you experience it yourself when it releases. Also, as others have mentioned, why would you want to pay a monhtly fee to test the game for SE?

[Soge01]

If they could find testers for jobs like DRK where they won't completely twist the job for their own personal benefits, then I'd be fine with it.

I often watch a youtuber called Xeno who talks about the pros and cons of tank jobs and would love to see someone like him able to give a in depth opinion on the problems with the Tank classes to the devs and how to fix them.

[EverQuest]

If they could find testers for jobs like DRK where they won't completely twist the job for their own personal benefits, then I'd be fine with it.

I often watch a youtuber called Xeno who talks about the pros and cons of tank jobs and would love to see someone like him able to give a in depth opinion on the problems with the Tank classes to the devs and how to fix them.

That's like the opposite of who you want

[Krotoan]

I don't wish to pay a sub to do what others get paid to do, nor for developers to have ANY incentive to incentivize playing a PTR, such as special in-game rewards or boosts.

I don't feel that "competitive" clearing of content is healthy to the extent that people go to when they have things like PTR's to go off. People get invested in the test versions of jobs and then rage when day 1 release fixes are applied, messing up their strats and causing them to go on tirades about changes that are basically bug squashing and balance. It also incredibly quashes the discovery and "wonder" of new things.

I don't believe that there is any incentive beyond epeen for classes to necessarily be released in a perfectly balanced state. Classes should work without excessive bugs or obvious exploits present, anything further is a matter of taste and player creativity/preference and in a non-competitive PVE environment can be adjusted slowly or left to make individual job preference and style matter.


TL;DR: PTRs are bad for FFXIV

[Reimmi]

AS a former wow player, definitely good for the game
Makes it so patch isnt solved before it even comes out, lets raids be exciting on launch, and it instills confidence in the devs that the game despite not having a ptr is forever less buggy than wow ever was, with one.
Just my 2 cents